More coverings by rook domains

The set V_kⁿ of all n-tuples (x₁, x₂,…, x_n) with x_i?, $\text{Z}$_k is considered. The problem treated in this paper is determining σ(n, k), the minimum size of a set W ? V_kⁿ such that for each x in V_kⁿ, there is an element in W that differs from x in at most one coordinate. By using a new constructive method, it is shown that σ(n, p) ? (p ? t + 1)p^n?r, where p is a prime and $\text{n = 1 +}\text{t(p}{}^{\mathrm{r?1}}\text{? 1)}\text{(p ? 1)}$ for some integers t and r. The same method also gives σ(7, 3) ? 216. Another construction gives the inequality σ(n, kt) ? σ(n, k)t^n?1 which implies that σ(q + 1, qt) = q^q?1t^q when q is a prime power. By proving another inequality σ(np + 1, p) ? σ(n, p)p^n(p?1), σ(10, 3) ? 5 · 3⁶ and σ(16, 5) ? 13 · 5¹² are obtained.